


Lucky Number Seven

by Anonymous



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Amnesia, Angry Steve Rogers, Body Horror, Body Modification, Brainwashing, Bucky Barnes Has Nightmares, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Bucky Barnes-centric, Captain America: The Winter Soldier Compliant, Child Abuse, Child Soldiers, Children, Dad Bucky Barnes, Do not post to another site, Father-Daughter Relationship, Forced Pregnancy, Forced Sterilization, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Harm to Children, Hurt Bucky Barnes, Hurt Natasha Romanov, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), Hydra is evil, Medical Experimentation, Medical Procedures, Mpreg, Natasha Romanov Feels, Newborn Children, Non-Consensual Touching, Non-Consensual Voyeurism, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Panic Attacks, Past Mpreg, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Post-HYDRA Reveal, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Red Room (Marvel), SHIELD, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Sam Wilson is So Done, Science Fiction, Super Soldier Serum, Super Soldiers, Surgery, The Author Regrets Nothing, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Violence, howard and maria's assassination, non consensual hand job, sam wilson is confused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2020-11-08 17:51:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20839589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Hydra's attempts at replicating the serum get sinister, and when years later the long-forgotten memories emerge in the form of a ruthless Hydra operative with blue eyes just like his own, it shakes the Winter Soldier to his core.ORHydra's long held secrets resurface and Bucky and Steve are left to pick up the pieces.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings:
> 
> This fic contains dark themes including forced mpreg, human experimentations, mental health issues as well as other themes which may be triggering.

The first thing that the Asset is aware of when he wakes is that there is an unfamiliar weight pressing down on his abdomen. It’s heavy and foreign, like a boulder sitting on his lower belly. He blinks, once then twice as he takes in his surroundings, a foggy cloud hanging down over him as he slowly comes too. He knows that he’s been drugged, can tell from the grogginess as well as the way his muscles feel weighed down.

He is laying down on a bed, his hands in the restraints as per usual. He looks over to see that he is indeed hooked to an IV as well as a heart rate monitor, the steady thump of his heartbeat all that could be heard in the eerily quiet room. There is no one else there, at least no one that the Asset can see or hear. He appears to be entirely alone, which is strange. He has never woken up from ice alone, let alone strapped to a table in an unfamiliar place.

And then, out of the groggy haze, he feels something shift. His gaze goes toward the source of the strange movement and freezes abruptly at the sight he is met with. His breath hitched as his usually cold, calculating eyes widen in shock and confusion.

His abdomen is a foreign sight. It is grossly distended, jutting out unnaturally from the confines of his body like an overripe melon. He is horrified at the sight, has never felt mortification like it since—

_Hydra. _

_The Train. _

_Zola._

As if to confirm his greatest fears, the thing moves again and he watches in absolute horror as the skin ripples, the abomination in his belly pushing out against its fleshy confines like a monster ready to claw its way out. There are no words for it, only sheer terror as he chokes out a pained whimper, the memories flooding back into his mind, Zola’s face flashing before his eyes like a horrible nightmare.

His metal arm breaks free from the restraints with little to no effort before he breaks the other one open as well, dark determination crossing his features as he rips the IV out of his flesh arm before removing the feeding tube from his stomach as well as the catheter before jumping off the table and to his feet. His gait has changed, and he is unbalanced, his center of gravity completely off, but that doesn’t stop him as he takes in his surroundings, looking for an escape.

Distantly, he can hear boots pounding against the floor, drawing nearer to him. He acts fast, grabbing a scalpel that had been carelessly left on a nearby counter just as the door to the lab burst open, a single file line of armed guards making their way into the room, their weapons trained on him.

The Asset grits his teeth, his grip on the scalpel tightening as blood drips down his arm and palm from where he had ripped the IV out, but it doesn’t matter. None of it does.

“Asset, stand down,” commanded one of the men, his weapon still pointed on him. “That is an order.”

The Asset doesn’t move, his grip still on the blade.

“Drop the knife!” he yelled as another man in a white lab coat rounded the corner, his eyes immediately taking in the scene.

“You cannot shoot him!” yelled the new man as he furiously tried to push past the guards. “If you kill him, you’ll kill the child!”

_The child? What—_

The Asset freezes as he looks back down at his bulging midsection, realization dawning. It was a child. A _baby._

But it can’t be. It’s not possible—

The ghost of a memory floats through his mind; _Sergeant Barnes, the procedure has already started!_

_No._

“Asset—” began the man again, his finger grazing over the trigger.

_Sergeant James Barnes, 107th. United States Army, serial number 32557038..._

“That’s not my name,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper.

_Bucky. His name is Bucky. Not Soldier or Asset. _

“I don’t care if it’s your goddamn name or not,” growled the man. “Stand down now or I will shoot you.”

The thing shifts inside of him again, a constant horrid reminder of what Zola has done to him. He had experimented on him, turned him into an abomination. He remembers, briefly, another lab in another time. Strapped down, violated. A blond man had rescued him then…

_Steve?_

He blinks once, then twice, and all hell breaks loose.

He curls his fist, ready for the kill. They won’t shoot him, won’t dare it. He knows what they want… The thing growing inside of him. The child. The baby. _His baby._

And he sure as hell isn’t going to let them have it.

He raises the scalpel, a dark look crossing his features. He knows it’s innocent, just a baby, not a monster or a weapon. But he would rather grant it this small mercy and see it dead than used as a pawn in Hydra’s sick game.

_“Longing.”_

He freezes, blue eyes widening.

_“Rusted.”_

No, no, no.

_“Seventeen.”_

He can feel his mind starting to shut down, his programming taking control once more.

_ “Daybreak.”_

He can’t let them win. Not again…

“_Furnace.”_

He begins to shake as he raises the knife once more, desperate.

_“Nine.”_

He can’t stop shaking. He is losing control.

_“Benign.”_

He drops the knife.

_“Homecoming.”_

He kneels, albeit awkwardly.

_“One.”_

He shuddered.

_“Freight car.”_

There is a moment of silence as the Soldiers eyes mist over completely, any trace of disobedience or resistance gone from him. He is the Asset and all he knows is the mission.

“Ready to comply,” he says, his voice devoid of any emotion.

“Soldier, stand up,” says his handler.

He does what is commanded of him, the strange weight in his belly a distant memory as the guards run over to him. He doesn’t resist them as they grab him and drag him back to the table before they strap him down again, this time with metal restraints that are not so easily broken.

“We will need to see about getting stronger restraints,” said the handler as he comes over to check on the Asset, his gaze traveling down to his distended belly. “The health of the fetus cannot be compromised again.”

“There will be no need for that,” said the Doctor as he wheeled a sonogram machine over to the Asset’s side. “There was a slip up with the drug dosage. It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t,” he says as the Doctor squirts the gel on the Asset’s skin, the wand moving over the domed expanse, the distinct sound of a heartbeat echoing throughout the room.

“There she is,” says the Doctor, satisfied. “Subject Number Seven appears to be in good health.”

The handler doesn’t say anything as he stares at the monitor for a few moments, his gaze tilting at whatever it is that he sees. The Asset cannot see anything, his vacant gaze transfixed on the ceiling above him, patiently waiting for his orders, the steady thump of the baby’s heartrate nothing more than a distracting noise that he does not comprehend.

His mind is only on one thing; the mission.

_What is his mission?_

“Put him back down,” said the handler. “And make sure there are no more slip-ups this time. Hydra cannot afford to lose any more of its test subjects.”

That is the last thing that the Asset hears before the world begins to fade out, that and the sound of a very small, distant heartbeat.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the Siberian wilderness holds many grim secrets, some of them more recent than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is an AU that takes place in 2016 and is not Civil War compliant.

Winter 2016

The base is exactly as Bucky had remembered it. Cold and dark and wholly abandoned. They had left in a hurry in the days following the fall of Soviet Russia, and apparently, there were still files, left behind and waiting to be discovered; waiting to be read. There were still secrets to be unearthed. Horrible, nasty secrets that needed to be exposed and Bucky was going to make sure of it, but the files… They were gone. All of them.

_Hydra._

“Somebody must’ve gotten here before us,” said Steve, his eyes gazing over the empty shelves where Bucky knew for a fact all of the files were kept. He scowled as he took in the sight, his eyes traveling over the fine layer of dust that had collected around the stacked documents over the years.

“Damnit,” muttered Bucky, his metal fist curling tightly in agitation.

_Not again._

“You think it’s the same person?” asked Wilson as he shivered, unaccustomed to the freezing Siberian temperature. The cold here was like daggers, piercing the skin all the way down to the bone. Even with the warmest gear on, no one was safe from the cold. It pervaded everything and everyone, like an unwelcomed invader.

It had taken Bucky years to acclimate to the cold, and even now, it barely bothered him anymore. He had no idea if he had the serum to thank for that, or just his years spent surviving in the ice.

“I don’t know,” said Steve, stumped. This was not the first time that they had gone to secure a base or research facility only to find all of the files and hard drives gone. Whoever this was, they always managed to stay one step ahead of them.

_Moscow. Minsk. Budapest. And now Siberia. _

It was infuriating, to say the least, and it made Bucky feel helpless. What more could Hydra possibly want to keep secret? What other secrets were they trying to cover?

Bucky’s nostrils flared, anger surging through him as he turned away, his gaze traveling around the room, searching. Whoever had been here before them must’ve left behind something, a clue as to who they were or where they were going, something to give them a leg up in apprehending them.

His eyes scanned the room while Steve and Sam talked to Stark over the comm, eyes falling on a small but discernible footprint on the floor. He knelt down to analyze, his eyes sweeping over the rather small print, his mind beginning to put together a profile.

The footprint was small, almost too small for it to belong to a grown man. Although shoe size was never really a good indicator of height, it did give Bucky a sense of who this person theoretically could be. Either an adolescent or a woman, or a very short man. His eyes scanned the rest of the floor for any more footprints besides those that belonged to their party and found that there was only one other footprint. 

“You find something, Buck?” asked Steve as Bucky frowned.

“I don’t know,” said Bucky, frowning. He followed the trail of small feet until he came to a computer, the chair pushed back from the desk, a clear indicator that someone had been sitting there.

He reached out, his eyes catching onto something small and barely discernible. There was a hair, long and dark in color left behind, and Bucky had just found it.

“I think we’re looking for a woman,” said Bucky as he held the hair up to the light and measured it. It was about the length of his arm, fingers to elbow. Longer than his own hair, and most likely belonging to a woman.

“Bag it,” said Steve as he handed Bucky a zip lock bag. “We’ll have Tony test it when we get back to New York, see what he can find. In the meantime, let's finish securing the base. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time and find something they didn’t.”

Bucky doubted it. Whoever this person was, they were thorough. In all of the facilities they had cleared out, they never found anything left behind. Well, until now that is.

They left the file room, making their way through the rest of the base. Memories flashed through Bucky’s eyes, the ghosts of people long past pervading his mind with every step that he took. His breathing grew labored, but he remained focused. It was all he could do to not let the memories destroy him.

“Jesus Christ,” muttered Sam as they entered into the cryo vaults, all of their eyes traveling over to the tanks.

Bucky’s breath hitched as his blue eyes widened. There, in the tanks, were all the unstable Winter Soldiers that had been left behind. The ones that Bucky himself had personally trained in the aftermath of Stark’s assassination, the ones that had all gone crazy. They were still there, even after all these years. And they were all dead, still suspended in their tanks, a single bullet through the skull.

“What the hell,” muttered Bucky under his breath.

Why would Hydra kill their prized Winter Soldiers? That certainly hadn’t been their intention when they had frozen them all those years ago. So, what changed?

_Unless—_

“Buck?” came Steve’s voice, enough to bring him back to reality.

He shook his head, “this is not Hydra’s work.”

“What makes you say that?” asked Sam.

“They wouldn’t kill them,” replied Bucky before adding; “they were too valuable for that.”

_No. They wouldn’t kill one of their Asset’s meaninglessly, let alone all of them. There was something else going on here. Something that Bucky couldn’t quite put his finger on…_

“We’re dealing with someone else,” said Bucky, certain. “Either someone on the outside or a rogue operative, but not Hydra.”

“Hey,” said Steve as he motioned for them to come over to him. “Over here. I think I found something.”

He pointed at a map on the far wall, a bunch of new locations marked, each denoting a new and previously unknown Hydra base or research facility.

“Man, there’s gotta be like— _five _new locations on that thing,” said Sam as Bucky stepped forward, his blue eyes cataloging each marker, analyzing.

“Zurich, Montreal, Sarajevo, Dubrovnik, and Vladivostok,” said Steve as Bucky traced the map with his fingers, searching for something that could tell them where to look for their target.

_Bingo. _

“We’re not going to find our target in any of those places,” said Bucky as he pointed at the small, indiscernible hole left behind by a thumbtack that had been removed. “Munich, Germany. That’s where they’re going.”

“You can’t tell that just because of a missing thumbtack,” said Sam, disbelief lacing his voice.

He was right. There was no true discernible way to know for certain, but he had a gut feeling; one that he couldn’t ignore.

“You’re sure?” asked Steve, looking for confirmation.

Bucky swallowed before nodding, “positive. They probably took the thumbtack out on purpose so that we wouldn’t be able to find their next location. Guess they weren’t expecting us to look any closer.”

Kinda careless for a trained Hydra operative, at least, in Bucky’s opinion. If he had trained this individual, they wouldn’t have made such a foolish mistake.

“We should get going,” added Bucky as he memorized the GPS cordinates. “They’ll have a few days head start by now. We can’t afford to lose any more files.”

_Lost files meant lost information._

“I guess we should send Tony the DNA sample,” said Steve as he looked over at Bucky. “Whoever this person is; whatever it is they want, we’re gonna find them.”

_And stop them._

Bucky shook his head, his eyes lingering over the dead Winter Soldiers. He already knew who they were dealing with; a person capable of killing without remorse. What had happened here hadn’t been an act of mercy.

_It had been an execution._

Whoever this person was, they were ruthless; cold. Just like—

_Just like the Winter Soldier._

“Buck?”

Steve’s voice brought him back to reality; grounded him to the here and now, but his mind was still haunted by the past.

“You okay?”

_What kind of question was that? They were standing in the very place that he had been tortured, frozen, and wiped for decades; beaten into submission. Broken, like fine China and then put back together in Hydra’s image, only half the man he used to be._

_He wasn’t fine. Far, far from it._

“I’m fine,” he replied, assuringly before adding; “let's go get them.”

The ghost of words unspoken lingering on the tip of his tongue; _let's find them, and stop them. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read and left kudos on this fic. I hope you enjoyed :)


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> INITIATE SYSTEM?
> 
> YES.

The snow was just beginning to fall in Munich when she arrived. A girl, no older than sixteen, with dark, nearly black hair and wide blue eyes that made her appear even younger than she was, stood in the dark alley in front of an empty Hydra research facility, her arms wrapped around herself for warmth as she stared up at the place of her birth. It had been abandoned for years at that point; it’s previous occupants having vacated it not long after her birth years earlier. And ever since then, it had been left to rot, it’s secrets lost…

_Until now._

She reached into the pocket of the coat she had stolen from a storefront in Warsaw and grabbed her flash drive, a vast host of information sitting between her fingertips that she had personally collected over the few short years since the fall of the Triskelion. Nearly half of all Hydra’s lost secrets rested into the palm of her hand, salvaged by her and her alone. It had been her mission; to salvage Hydra, but her mission was incomplete.

Her fingers tightened on the drive as she exhaled, her breath visible in the cold air.

Hydra could salvage itself for all she cared. She wasn’t there for them. She was there for herself. For years she had been looking for answers as to where she came from and who she was, and after all of that searching, the information had led her here, to this abandoned facility.

She removed her hand from her pocket before zipping it, her flash drive safe and secure at her side as she reached into her bag and pulled out all the sensor motion devices that she had and got to work. She had been lucky enough to find a detailed map of the facilities layout in one of the many files she pulled from Siberia and she had studied. She knew for a fact that there were only two entrances into the building and she also knew that she was being followed, if not by Hydra then undoubtedly by Shield. She placed each device by the two entrances, hidden from view but close enough to pick up any motion if anyone attempted to enter.

Once her work was done, she entered the building. The facility itself was built beneath a set of abandoned military barracks that had not been in use since World War II, the base itself having been constructed by the Nazis in the 1940s as a safe place for when the Allied Powers invaded. It had been repurposed by Hydra in the nineties for Project: Genesis, of which she had been a part of.

She had found the files in Siberia, left to collect dust on some shelf. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a Hydra operative with a metal arm who had been stationed out of Siberia had been relocated to Germany for phase I of the Project. It was only after she had examined a stolen copy of his file, the very same one that had been leaked to the public in 2014, that she started to suspect that this Sergeant James Barnes, an American POW captured in 44’ and cryogenically frozen, might be her male progenitor. It was only after she saw his picture with her own eyes that her suspicions were confirmed.

Looking at him had been like looking in a mirror. It had been eerie to see someone whom she had never met before in her entire life and yet with whom she shared an obvious genetic relationship too. As soon as the connection had been made, she had uploaded the file to her flash drive before carefully pouring over the information, looking for herself between the lines. Surprisingly, she found no mention of her or any other child born to Project Genesis. She couldn’t even find documentation of him ever having been kept in Munich, but all the files she had found in Siberia said otherwise.

She entered into the building and found, upon her entrance into the facility, that the elevator no longer worked, forcing her to take the stairs down to the lower levels.

_At least the elevator in Siberia had worked, _she begrudgingly thought as she descended deeper and deeper into the abyss, her eyes straining to see well enough in the dark as she pulled her flashlight out of her bag and turned it on. She searched for the breaker to the back-up generators for a few good minutes before she found it. She flipped it on, grinning as the lights flickered on for the first time in over a decade, illuminating everything in her path and making it easier for her to find her way. She hoped Hydra couldn’t tell that the base had suddenly come back on the grid, but it was a risk she was going to have to take.

_She could only imagine what they would do to her considering what she had done in Siberia; done to their precious Winter Soldiers._

The file room was exactly where she knew it would be from the schematics. There were no paper files to be found anywhere, only computers that had been left behind, their USB ports the only thing between her and the plethora of digitized files they contained. The computers themselves were outdated and as old as she was, but they were still plugged in and still useable from the looks of it.

She sat down at one of the computers before she turned it on and waited patiently for the system to boot up.

**INITIATE SYSTEM?**

She plugged the flash drive in and started typing.

**YES.**

Overriding the system so that she didn’t need a password to get in was child’s play and within less than a minute, she was in the system and she had full and complete access to every single digitized file in their databanks, at least the ones for this base.

She scanned through the hundreds of files, uninterested in what they had to say as she continued to search for the files she was interested in. She found the folder containing all the files a few minutes later, locked away and encrypted. Whatever was in those files, Hydra really didn’t want anyone finding them as she began to work on the decryption process.

**PROJECT: GENESIS **

She clicked on it as the first file popped up.

**02/02/92**

**The asset has been relocated from Siberia to Hydra Research Facility in Munich Germany and placed into the care of Herr Gottlieb and Dr. Harold Radcliffe, Ph.D.. at the request of Herr Zola for Phase I of Project: Genesis following the fall of the Soviet Union. Ultimate Goal: The creation and training of enhanced soldiers from birth. Phase I of Project Genesis will include surgical implantation and successful implantation. Phase II will include gestation and Phase III will include birth.**

Herr Arnim Zola; the savior of Hydra. It was him who had rebuilt Hydra out of the ashes in the aftermath of World War II and it was he who had been the mastermind behind the creation of Project Insight.

_Hadn’t he died in 1972?_

**03/04/92**

**Phase I of Project: Genesis underway. Surgical implantation was a success. Signs of healing already evident one-hour post-surgery. Blood flow to the uterus is adequate.**

She froze as she read the excerpt again.

_Uterus? Had she read that correctly?_

**03/17/92**

**The surgical wound is healed enough to begin Phase II of the Project: Genesis. The Asset appears to be healthy and stable. Viable semen samples have been successfully obtained. The Asset was compliant in the methods used to extract the samples, but the level of awareness he displayed during the extraction was unusual. Wipe recommended before initiating Phase II.**

She could feel her breath hitch as she read the next entry.

**03/20/92**

**The Asset underwent first wipe in weeks.**

**03/28/92**

**First hormone injection. The asset is healthy and the level of awareness has been successfully contained. A series of hormone injections have been successful at increasing estrogen and other pregnancy-related hormones. Donor eggs have been fertilized by the Asset’s sperm resulting in six healthy embryos; four males and two females. Implantation has been scheduled.**

_What—?!_

**04/10/92**

**All six embryos have been inserted into the pseudo-uterus for increased chances that at least one will implant successfully. Success or failure will be imminent in a few weeks.**

Her chest tightened as she clicked on the next entry, her breathing beginning to grow heavy as she tried to control her panic.

**04/25/92**

**The first attempt at successful implantation was a failure. None of the six embryos were able to implant. Hormone levels will be adjusted to compensate. The Asset was wiped today.**

**05/15/92**

**The second attempt at implantation was a success. One embryo has managed to successfully implant into the uterine wall. This is a groundbreaking achievement for us. The Project is moving much faster than originally anticipated. Today marks three weeks since the last wipe. The asset may no longer undergo wipes for the health of the embryos. Other arrangements may need to be made for him during the gestation period; possibly induced coma.**

She stopped reading as she sat back in her chair, horrified at the things she had just read. What Hydra had done; what was detailed in these entries— _it was abominable. _

_Beyond the bounds of nature itself. _

Her chest tightened as she pushed herself away from the chair and stood up, her breathing heavy as her hands began to shake.

_No. No. No._

She paced back and forth in front of the computer for a few good moments as she tried to calm the surge of panic that flowed throughout her body, making it hard for her to think or even function. Her chest felt tight, almost too tight…

_Inhale. Exhale. Repeat._

She looked back at the computer as she nibbled on her lip, her desire to know more about her origins outweighing her disgust as she calmly took her seat once again and clicked through the entries. There were too many for her to look through there and then because of how detailed there were, not to mention there was an entire folder just for the videos and photographs. Those, however, would have to wait. She didn’t think she had the stomach for it yet.

There had been ten pregnancies in total in the years between 1992 and 2000, but only eight of those had resulted in live births and only seven had survived infancy. The Asset— _James Barnes, _she reminded herself gently, had been placed under heavy sedation for almost all of the entire Project so that he would not be able to gain mental awareness seeing as he could not be subjected to any more wipes and was therefor drugged for all of the gestation periods, only be woken up briefly in between births so that he could give them more samples and undergo wipes then.

_It was horrible and barbaric to imagine. It made her sick to think about. _

She skimmed through the files of the other children born to Project: Genesis before she found the file listed as:

**Test Subject Number 7**

She looked down at the number tattooed on her skin, a number seven permanently branded onto the skin of her forearm as a young child before she looked up at the file once more. This was it. She was number 7.

_This was her file._

She clicked on the entry as she leaned forward.

**03/29/00**

**Out of the four embryos that were inserted, only one has managed to implant into the uterus. The Asset is sedated and doing well but starting to show signs of a built-up immunity to the drugs. Higher dosages will need to be administered.**

**07/21/00**

**Gestation is at four months, three weeks, and one day. The fetus is healthy but underweight for its age. To counteract this, the Asset’s calorie intake via the feeding tube will be increased. Asset remains sedated, however higher dosages are needed to keep him under. Herr Zola has recommended that restraints be used in case he regains consciousness seeing as the last wipe was over six months ago.**

**08/11/00**

**The fetus is female and is healthy and well-developed for her age and continuing to grow at a fast rate ever since the calorie intake was increased. Fetal movement is more apparent and can be even seen outside of the womb.**

**10/05/00**

**Gestation is at seven months and one week exactly. The fetus is healthy.**

**11/22/00**

**Gestation is at eight months, three weeks, and six days. The Asset regained awareness today due to a slip-up with the drugs. He broke through his restraints and ripped out his IV and his feeding tubes before attempting to threaten the life of the fetus with a scalpel. He appeared extremely agitated and was not compliant until the Winter Soldier code words were used. He has since then put back under and we have invested in vibranium restraints to hold him in case he regains awareness. The health of the fetus may not be compromised again.**

A tear streamed down her face as she tried to picture him— _her father _as he regained consciousness and saw with his own eyes what Hydra had done to him; turned him into. It was a visceral image to try and picture, one that made her feel nauseous the more she tried to envision it.

_He had tried to kill her according to the entry and he had almost succeeded before— _

_Before Hydra had ensnared him once again…_

She wiped the tears from her eyes as she clicked on the very last journal entry.

**12/04/00**

**Test Subject Number 7 was born at 8:40 pm on 12/04/2000 via cesarean section. She weighs approximately 7lbs and 2 oz and is healthy. The Asset remains under anesthesia until his wound is healed and then he will be wiped and prepared for cryofreezing. **

She swallowed heavily as she leaned back against her chair, numb to the world around her. She had found everything that she had wanted too, and so much more, and yet—

_And yet she wished she hadn’t._

If she had any doubts before now that Hydra was evil, they could now be put to rest. She had all the answers she needed and more.

Her burner phone buzzed in her back pocket as she pulled it out, her blue eyes widening as the sensor motion devices picked up movement from both entrances into the base. She pulled up the live video feed and watched in mute horror as three men entered the facility.

Normally she wouldn’t have been perturbed by the sight of three men. She was, after all, a highly trained operative despite her age and normally three men could be easily taken care of, but these were not normal men. She recognized them.

The man with the shield, the Falcon, and— _the operative with the metal arm. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has commented or left kudos :)


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky confronts the person who's been stealing all of his files, and she reminds him of someone from his past.

It is only after the Quinjet takes off and the Siberian wilderness falls away beneath them that Bucky feels as though he can breathe again. It’s a relief as he lets himself sink into his chair, emotionally drained from revisiting the place of his nightmares. They have a few hours before they reach Munich, enough time for him to take a breather and just— _think. _

He wished he had his notebooks there with him in case any more long-forgotten memories popped up unexpectedly, but he had left them behind in New York, not wanting to risk losing them or damaging them. Ever since Steve had found him Bucharest earlier that year, Bucky had filled one more notebook. It had been an agonizingly slow process as even more fragmented memories started resurfacing and every time that he caught a glimmer of something, he had faithfully written it down no matter how small or unimportant it seemed.

_And still, he was nowhere near getting all the memories back. There were still parts that were unaccounted for, buried deep in the recesses of his mind, just waiting to resurface._

He shuddered to think what else there could be lingering in his mind. Dark, vicious things that were probably better left forgotten, but that wasn’t good enough for Bucky. He had to know.

“The hair sample is on its way to New York,” said Steve, glancing at Bucky. “Should be ready for us by the time we get back.”

Bucky nodded, eyes refusing to meet Steve’s.

“What’s on your mind?” asked Steve after a few moments of silence.

“Wish I had my notebooks here,” he said, truthfully.

“Any new memories?” asked Steve as Bucky nodded.

“None so far,” replied Bucky as Sam made his way into the cockpit, his oversized winter coat having been discarded as he lowered himself into the only available seat, his arms still wrapped around himself for warmth.

“Jesus, I knew Siberia was cold, but no one ever told me it was THAT cold,” he said as he breathed on his hands for extra warmth, eliciting a grin from Bucky despite himself.

“Told ya to dress warm,” he replied as Sam scoffed.

“I did dress warm,” he argued.

“Yeah, you just didn’t dress warm enough,” replied Steve as Bucky shook his head.

“How is it that you two can run around in nothing but light jackets like it’s spring and I bring an extra warm ski jacket and I’m still freezing?” asked Sam as Bucky looked down at his light black jacket, the sleeve cut off over his metal arm and shrugged.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m perfectly warm in this,” replied Bucky, only slightly goading Wilson on.

It was the serum they both had to thank for their higher body temperatures as well as their tolerance to the cold, however out the both, Bucky dealt with the cold better than Steve did. He suspected that it might’ve had something to do with the serum Zola gave him, but he wasn’t sure, nor was he keen to find out either.

“So am I,” said Steve as he looked down at his suit, a slight grin plastered to his face as Sam rolled his eyes.

“I hate you two,” replied Sam as Bucky let out a genuine laugh, one that had no trouble reaching his eyes this time as Steve too chuckled, the both amused at Sam’s expense.

“Next time, dress for the weather pal,” said Bucky as he got up and patted Sam on the shoulder before making his way to the back of Quinjet so that he could get some shut-eye. He found a spot along the bench and hunkered down, still drained from Siberia. They still had a few more hours to go till they reached Munich, and he had nothing better to do. Plus, from all his years working as a highly trained Hydra operative, he was no stranger to sleeping in strange places or on hard surfaces. He was used to sleeping when and wherever he could, although most of the time he had slept while working for Hydra had been when he was on the ice.

He laid down on the bench and closed his eyes, glad to be leaving Siberia behind once and for all. Unfortunately for him, his nightmares never left him.

**V**

Steve became acutely aware about a half-hour out from Munich that Bucky was having a nightmare, or as the psychologists and shrinks would call it, a night terror. It had been a common occurrence for him in the months following his return to New York from Bucharest, but ever since Bucky had started seeing a court-mandated therapist and talking things out, the number of night terrors he experienced had decreased significantly, although not totally gone. Still, it was almost surprising for Steve to see his friend thrashing around in his sleep as soft, whimpers escaped him. Whatever memory it was that he was reliving, Steve could tell that Bucky was terrified.

“Night terror?” asked Sam as he entered the back part of the ship were Bucky was, his eyes zeroing in on the situation like the trained counselor that he was.

Steve swallowed heavily, “yeah.”

He wanted to wake him up from whatever nightmare he was being forced to relive, but both he and Sam knew from personal experience what waking Bucky up from a nightmare entailed, and it wasn’t pretty. Usually, if they waited it out, Bucky would wake up the next day completely unaware that he had even had a nightmare, but sometimes—

_Sometimes he remembered and for him, it was like reliving the trauma all over again. Unable to turn off the memories, forced to relive it every day, completely at the mercy of things long past. _

It killed Steve to watch, but at this moment he was powerless. They were getting Bucky all the help that they could; even managing to get the damned trigger words out of his mind, but it wasn’t good enough. None of it could erase the damage that had already been done at that point. Sometimes, all they could was watch.

Sam’s eyes softened, “he’ll come out of it. These things only last a few minutes tops and then most of the time, they forget it even happened in the first place.”

“Let’s hope,” said Steve as he made his way back to the cockpit and checked the GPS coordinates to make sure they were accurate before he made his way back a few minutes later to find Bucky still asleep, but no longer thrashing around or groaning in his sleep.

“We’re about ten out from our location,” said Steve as Sam nodded.

Steve made his way over and tapped Bucky awake, happy to see that Bucky didn’t seem too out of sorts. If he remembered the night-terror, he didn’t make any mention of it as he wiped the sleep from his eyes and sat up, his hands immediately going for his rifle.

“How far out?” he asked, alert and aware.

“Less than ten.”

“Backup?”

“Just us,” replied Steve as Bucky nodded. The base was probably abandoned already with the way that Hydra was fleeing, abandoning research facilities and bunkers in search of new, safer locations. So far, almost every single Hydra facility they had cleared out within the past two months had been vacant, the previous occupants having left in a hurry.

Still, they had no idea who they were dealing with and there was no way to calculate their threat level from the minimal information they had, so they needed to be on their guard. Bucky just hoped that the three of them would be enough.

“The hair?” asked Bucky, imploring.

“Tony got it and he’s running a DNA profile on it now,” said Steve.

“Good,” was Bucky’s simple reply as he rose to his feet and made his way into the cockpit, Steve following close behind him as the Quinjet began its gradual descent through the dark clouds. It was well into the night at that point, the sun having set hours ago and giving way to the darkness.

Darkness, Bucky knew, could either help or hinder a mission. It concealed things, allowed people to move about in the cover of darkness, but at the same time, it concealed others and allowed them to do the exact same thing. Darkness was tricky, but only for the inexperienced.

The Quinjet landed it what appeared to be an open field just northwest of Munich, about a half-mile from the nearest road and less than forty yards from a set of abandoned military barracks, a perfect place to conceal an underground bunker or facility seeing how secluded it was.

“Heat sensors are picking up something big right beneath us,” said Sam as soon as they stepped off the Quinjet. “There’s definitely an underground structure here and it's big.”

Bucky analyzed their surroundings as they followed the GPS coordinates over to the barracks. He looked around for an entrance point and found, instead, a trip sensor motion device hiding discreetly in the bushes. He sighed as knelt and grabbed it, holding it up for Sam and Steve to see.

“Someone’s here,” he said pointedly before adding; “and they’re watching us.”

He pointed to the small camera lens that was no doubt feeding live footage of them to someone, who that person was Bucky had no idea. He just knew that they were watching them.

He looked down at the camera lens, to whoever was watching him from the other end before crushing the device in his metal hand, the pieces falling from his hand and onto the ground, severing the connection. He stomped on it for good measure before he raised his rifle and entered into the building, his rifle raised and ready to meet whoever it was that was stealing their files.

**V**

The girl cursed as her live video feed was destroyed by none other than the fucking Winter Soldier, his somber-looking face peering down at her before the feed went black, her only view of the outside world gone in just a matter of seconds.

Shit. Shit. Shit. This was not good, not good at all. What the fuck were they doing here? Where these the Shield Agents that had been trailing her since Budapest?

_Wait— did that mean that the Winter Soldier, her father, was a Shield Agent now? Had he managed to shake his programming? Was that even possible?_

She didn’t know, nor was she keen to find out as she furiously began the tedious job of downloading all of the files from the database onto her flash drive, her eyes widening when she realized how long it would take to download hundreds upon hundreds of files.

_It would take too long. They would find her by the time her files were done._

She considered, briefly, going out and causing a distraction, or even confronting them, but decided against it. She wasn’t a fool.

_She knew when she was physically outmatched, at least._

She bit her lip as she looked back at the screen.

**Download 25% Complete**

She had some time before they found the file room, but not long as she heard very light footsteps above her, barely audible to her strained ears, but definitely present.

She looked back at the computer.

**Download 50% Complete**

“Come on,” she muttered under her breath as she heard the doors to the stairwell open accompanied by the sound of footsteps. She had two minutes, maybe more before they found her, or at least before they found the file room, which would undoubtedly be their main target, if not her.

She knew she must’ve made a mistake in Siberia, left something behind for them to follow because somehow they knew she would be here. She wasn’t stupid and neither were they. They had been trailing her since the research facility in Budapest, fully aware that she was stealing Hydra files wherever she went. She had been extra careful when she had visited the Siberian base because she knew they were trailing her, but apparently, she hadn’t been careful enough.

**Download 75% Complete**

She mentally cursed herself at her sloppiness. If she was still with Hydra, she would’ve never been as careless as she was getting.

_After all, there was no room for mistakes. Not when it came to Hydra. _

**Download 90% Complete**

She could hear the footsteps, now closer than ever before as they made their way down the hallway. Her breathing grew shallow as they grew close enough for her to hear their voices, soft-spoken but audible as she strained to listen to their conversation.

“I think the file room is on this level,” said one of them, whispering.

“How do you know?” asked another.

“I think— I don’t know, but I think I’ve been here before,” came the first voice. “This place seems really familiar for some reason.”

“Lead the way then,” said a third voice, commanding. She recognized that voice. It belonged to the man with the shield.

**Download 95% Complete**

“Follow me.”

Her breath hitched as their footsteps echoed through the hall, growing closer and closer by the second as she looked over at the only entrance into the room, their shadows visible from the outside.

Her blue eyes widened as the color drained from her face. Her hands felt clammy as she hastily glanced between the monitor and the entrance, her breaths ragged and short.

**Download 99% Complete**

Then the door was kicked down.

**V**

Bucky kicked the door to the file room down and entered, his footsteps light and agile as he raised his rifle and scanned the room through the scope, Sam and Steve close behind them as they made their way into the apparently empty room.

Bucky canvassed the room, his rifle poised and ready as Steve followed behind him, his shield raised. Sam was close behind them, a rifle in his hands as they searched the room for any sign of activity, to which there appeared to be none.

“All clear,” muttered Bucky under his breath as he scanned the room once more, dismayed.

Steve glanced over at him, “we need to secure the rest of the base.”

“Our mission was to recover the files,” replied Bucky, irate. “You two go on ahead, I’ll stay and see what I can find on the computer.”

“We should stay together,” argued Steve.

“I’ll be fine,” replied Bucky, pointedly. He knew Steve wanted to stick together for safety purposes, but the Winter Soldier had always been a lone wolf. Most of his missions with Hydra had been solo, with only minimal help or backup. He was used to working alone and was quite proficient at it.

Steve looked as though he wanted to argue further, but acquiesced to Bucky’s demands as he nodded.

“Alright, comm us if anything goes south. Sam and I will finish securing the base on our own,” he said as Bucky nodded. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Bucky smirked, “you’re one to talk, pal.”

Sam and Steve left, leaving Bucky on his own. He scanned the row of ancient computers, his eyes falling on one at the far end. The chair was pushed far back and the monitor light was still on, a clear sign that someone had been there recently. He reached down and felt the still-warm seat before he sat down and logged onto the system before searching through the databanks.

His search, however, yielded nothing. All of the files were gone as if they had never been there. Bucky gritted his teeth, his metal fist tightening as he mentally cursed. Whoever their target was, they had singlehandedly cleared out all of the files, but they couldn’t have gotten very far.

Bucky rose from his chair, intending to go find Steve and Sam to rejoin the search when something on the floor caught his attention.

_Wait, is that—?_

He reached down as he picked up the memory stick. He was in the process of examining it when there was a noise from above him, soft and almost inaudible but loud enough for Bucky’s enhanced senses to pick up on it as he drew his gaze upward.

He barely had any time to register that there was a person hiding up there before they jumped down, their legs wrapping around his upper torso as arms wrapped themselves tightly around his neck, scratching and clawing.

He reacted fast, grabbing their hands and throwing himself back against the wall, effectively smashing them in an attempt to get them off of him. They yelled out in pain, definitely feminine from the sound of it, but held on tightly, their nails digging into his skin as he reached up with his metal arm and grabbed his attacker by the arm before flinging her over him and into the row of computers. She smashed into the computers but quickly regained her composure as blue eyes peered at him through a mess of dark hair before they looked down at the floor.

Bucky followed her gaze and lunged for the memory stick. She punched him, square in the jaw and Bucky almost dropped the stick in surprise at how strong she was, but he held onto it as she readied another blow, one that he was prepared for this time as he ducked, her swing missing him completely as he grabbed her arm and twisted. She screamed in pain but managed to knock her head back against his face before lunging once more for the memory stick.

They struggled for a few more, intense moments before he managed to get the upper hand over her before kicking her, hard. Not hard enough to shatter bones with his superior strength, but definitely hard enough to leave a fracture at least. She screamed in pain and fell to the floor while he lunged for his rifle, pointing it at her as he rose to his feet, out of breath.

She held onto her injured leg, pain racking throughout her unbelievably tiny body as she looked up at him, her face twisted in silent agony as Bucky felt his breath hitch.

J_esus Christ, _he thought as he took in her appearance, _how old is she?_

Her pained blue eyes glared up at him through a tangle of long dark hair, her face still twisted in pain as she leveled a hardened gaze on him and Bucky felt as though the air had been sucked out of his lungs because he was certain he knew her.

_No, that wasn’t right. Bucky would’ve remembered if he had met her before, but her face—_

“Are you going to kill me, Soldier?” she asked, her voice surprisingly calm considering the amount of pain she must’ve been in.

He stared at her for a few good seconds, his rifle still aimed at her as she cocked her head to the side, analyzing. He inhaled deeply as his grip on his rifle tightened.

“Not if you cooperate,” he replied, his gaze falling on the flash drive on the floor before looking back at her, waiting.

She stared at him but didn’t lunge for the stick as he expected her too.

“I know who you are,” she said, her voice still the epitome of calm. “I’ve read your file, Sergeant Barnes.”

He said nothing as he bent down and retrieved the stick as she watched him, her eyes peering at him.

“That belongs to me.”

“What’s on this?” he asked as he leveled his gaze on her.

She said nothing.

“Answer me,” he snarled as he bent down to her level, making her flinch at the proximity as well as the heat of his gaze as he glared at her.

Bucky almost felt bad for intimidating the girl, but then he remembered the way that she had fought him. She was highly trained and skilled when it came to combat, her technique reminding him of the girls he had trained in the Red Room once upon a time. She was strong too, far too strong to not be enhanced and yet far too young at the same time.

She couldn’t have been older than sixteen, maybe even younger, but Bucky knew not to judge skill or ability on age alone. But this girl was different and for some odd reason, he felt as though he knew her.

_How did he know her?_

“You can look, but you won’t like what you find,” she replied evenly as her façade gradually gave way to something else, something that made Bucky’s stomach churn. She sounded resigned, but truthful at the same time and it made Bucky wary.

_The way she looked at him— she reminded him of Rebecca. Why did she remind him of his little sister?_

“That’s alright,” he said as he pocketed the drive, “we’ll find out soon enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed :)


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds out some surprising information and Bucky find out just why the girl reminds him of his dead sister.

It was the wee hours of the morning when the DNA arrived at the Avenger’s Headquarters in New York from Siberia. Tony was on his third cup of coffee for the day and running on fumes as he tinkered with more upgrades to his suit, Pepper peacefully asleep in the room they both shared when they stayed there.

He took the plastic bag out of the air-tight package and pulled the hair out of the sealed zip-lock bag before starting a DNA test on the sample so that he could compare it with the DNA that was already on record, courtesy of him of course. In the aftermath of the whole Shieldra fiasco in 2014, Tony had teamed up with Shield to sift through all the leaked files for Project Insight, which had also included a full genetic profile of literally millions of individuals from all around the world, taken from innocuous DNA testing companies and other nefarious means. Hydra had been screening the DNA of everyday people, separating the weak from the superior; the mutant from the human and so forth and so on, just like their fascist predecessors.

“Friday run a full genetic profile on the sample. Compare it to the DNA we have on record and tell me what you find.”

“Would you like me to screen for familial matches as well, Sir?” asked Friday as Tony nodded.

“Sure. Tell me what you find.”

“Full genetic analysis underway. Results will be ready in approximately two hours thirty-three minutes and eighteen seconds.”

“Good,” replied Tony, uncertain what Steve and Barnes were looking for when they sent it to him. He knew they were trailing a possible Hydra Agent throughout Eastern Europe, but Steve had offered no other information other than this hair.

He returned to his tinkering, the sun just beginning to rise as the hours passed by.

Exactly two hours thirty-three minutes and eighteen seconds later, Fridays' voice brought him out of his reverie as she alerted him to the completion of the DNA profile.

“Sir, the DNA analysis is complete and ready to be reviewed.”

“Tell me what you found, Fri,” said Tony as he took another swig of his Luke-warm coffee.

“There were no full matches in any of Shield or Hydra’s databanks. There was, however, a paternal match in both databases.”

“Let’s start with the basics,” replied Tony. “What can you tell me from the DNA itself?”

“The DNA sample belongs to a human female. The length of her telomeres indicates that she is an adolescent between the ages of twelve and sixteen years of age. She is of British and Slavic descent as well as—”

“Not important Fri, who was the paternal match?” asked Tony as he cut to the chase.

“The paternal match was to that of Sergeant Barnes, James Buchanan. 107th Infantry Regiment, United States Army. Serial number 32557—”

Tony froze as Friday continued to rehash Barnes’ service record as well as his subsequent “death” and eventual recapture by Hydra and Zola. Friday was well into telling him about his killing exploits before Tony finally managed to snap out of it, his attention coming back into focus.

“She’s his daughter,” he said, albeit more to himself than anything. He was pretty damn certain that Barnes had no idea, which made this even worse.

_Fuck, this was bad. Really, really bad. Hydra had really gone there, hadn’t they?_

Tony swallowed, “how certain are the results, Fri?”

“99.4%, Sir.”

“Jesus,” he muttered as he scrubbed a tired hand over his face before he frowned. “Friday get Captain Roger’s on the line. Now.”

“Yes, Sir.”

A few seconds later, Steve’s tired voice filtered through the air as Tony tried to figure out what he was going to tell him and Barnes.

“Stark, are you done testing the DNA?”

Tony swallowed, “yeah. Barnes there?”

“Yeah, we just finished up in Munich. We caught our perp. A teenage girl. We’re on our way now with her and the recovered files.”

“Has she said anything?” asked Tony.

“No. She hasn’t said a word since we took her into custody.”

“I finished with the genetic profile. There was a match in our database.”

“Who?” came Barnes’ voice.

“How far out are you guys?” asked Tony, deflecting. He wanted to say this in person rather than over the comm.

“About three hours out of New York, give or take. Who was the match?” asked Steve, pressing.

“Well, it wasn’t a full match. The DNA you sent me was never on any of Shield or Hydra’s records, at least the ones we have. But Friday did find a paternal match in both Shield and Hydra’s databanks,” replied Tony.

“So, her father was a Hydra Agent in Shield?” asked Barnes, intently. “What’s his name?”

“I’ll tell you who it was when you get back here. How’s the girl? Is she alright?”

“She’s fine,” replied Barnes. “We don’t know anything about her, though. She’s refusing to talk, and she’ll need a Doctor when we arrive. Is Banner there?”

“No, but I can give him a call,” replied Tony as he exhaled deeply. “Just, get back here. We’ll talk then.”

“Alright,” said Steve, “see you when we land.”

Once the line went dead, Tony immediately went and got another cup of coffee before sitting back down at his computer, ready to get back to work and see what else he could find before the Quinjet landed.

“Were there any other matches in the system?” asked Tony before adding; “a maternal match?”

“Negative. There is no maternal match in the system that is a match to the hair sample from Jane Doe. I did, however, find some anomalies in the DNA sample I thought you might be interested in hearing, Sir.”

“Lay it on me, Friday. I don’t have all night,” said Tony as he sipped his coffee.

“When I ran the DNA comparison between Sergeant Barnes and Jane Doe, I discovered that the unknown female subject shared a lot of the same genetic enhancements that Sergeant Barnes has, probably given to him during his imprisonment in Azzano by Dr. Zola.”

“Like what?”

“An advanced healing factor, increased stamina, speed, and strength. However, her enhancements do not appear to be as potent since they were inherited. Would you like me to write up a report for you or would you like me to summarize the rest of my findings?”

“Write up a report for me Fri and I’ll take a look at it,” replied Tony as he finished off the rest of his coffee and called Banner. Once that was done, he made his way into his and Pepper’s shared room and softly lowered himself down on the bed. Pepper looked peaceful, her blonde hair fanned out around her face as she slept. He sighed as he looked over at the clock in the dark, realization that he had been up all night setting in. The sun would be up soon and the Quinjet would be back and that would mean Tony would have to explain his findings to the team, a task he found he was not looking forward to.

Pepper stirred from her sleep as Tony scrubbed a tired hand over his face.

“Tony?” she asked, sleepily. “What are you doing up?”

“Hey,” he said, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Have you been up all night?” she asked as she sat up in bed. “Tony, it’s 4 am.”

“I was tinkering away with my suits. Guess I lost track of the time,” he replied as she shook her head.

“Come to bed,” she replied as he shook his head.

“I can’t,” he replied. “Steve and the others will be back soon and they’re bringing more files.”

“That can wait,” she said as she rubbed his shoulder. “Come to bed.”

Tony wanted to argue, but he merely nodded as he kicked his shoes off and burrowed under the covers, exhaustion taking over as he closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

**V**

The sun was already beginning to make its journey across the sky by the time the Quinjet landed at the facility. Tony, who was wide awake and showered, came out to meet them as he watched the jet land and the ramp lower. Rogers, Wilson, and Barnes made their way down with a younger girl in tow behind them, her hands in a pair of vibranium handcuffs. There was also a slight limp to her gait, but if she was in pain she didn’t show it as she analyzed her surroundings, on guard for any potential threats. She was small compared to the other men, the overly large clothes that she was wearing only making her appear smaller than she already was.

The closer she got, the more Tony could see the physical resemblance between her and Barnes. She had the same exact shade of blue as Barnes and they both shared a similar facial structure. Her hair was a few shades darker than his and longer, but all in all, there was no mistaking the obvious genetic connection they both shared. She even had the same lost look in her eyes that Barnes had when Rogers had brought him in from Bucharest earlier that year.

It was eerie how much they looked alike and it made Tony wonder if anyone else had noticed it, but he didn’t comment on it as he uncrossed his arms and took his aviators off.

“Banner’s on his way,” he said as he nodded towards the girl. “You guys find anything else in Munich besides the girl?”

Barnes handed him a flash drive, “just this.”

Tony accepted the drive before regarding the girl, “this yours?”

She looked up at him but didn’t say anything as she gave him a vacant stare.

“She isn’t talking,” muttered Bucky under his breath as Tony nodded.

“Right,” said Tony under his breath, not all that surprised. “Let’s go to the lab. We need to talk.”

He led them into the lab, the girl trailing behind them as she took in everything around her with a calculating look, the same one that Barnes had. Tony couldn’t help but notice that she was bit gaunt-looking, probably underweight from her time on the run. Her hair was tangled, and her oversized clothes were large. She didn’t look all that threatening, and Tony was willing to bet that she wasn’t stupid enough to try and escape with all of them present.

“Are those really necessary?” he asked as he nodded towards the cuffs. “Come on guys, she’s not a threat. Not here with all of us.”

Steve didn’t look as though he wanted to argue and when Tony took a step forward, neither he nor the others stood in his way. Bucky, on the other hand, watched intently as Tony stepped closer to the girl, much like how someone would approach a wild animal. Tony could tell that Barnes was on edge, ready to jump in if she attacked at a moment notice, but Tony was careful. He could tell that she wasn’t going to attack him, at least not provoked she wasn’t.

“I can take those off,” he said as he nodded towards her wrists. “If you’d like, that is.”

She looked down at the cuffs before looking back up at him, calculating. Tony took another small step forward.

“They’re probably really uncomfortable,” he added as she bit her lip and nodded. Under normal circumstances, Tony would’ve probably quipped some joke to lighten the mood, but he knew that now was neither the time or place for those sentiments, so he kept his mouth shut as she held out her hands. He unlocked the cuffs and watched as she rubbed at the pale skin, clearly happy to have them off as Tony set them down on the table.

“There ya go,” he said. “Now that that’s over, how about we look at that leg of yours?”

She looked down at her leg and swallowed before nodding, albeit hesitantly as both Natasha and Banner made their way into the room, their eyes trailing over the girl as Banner immediately went into Doctor mode. Once Tony was certain the girl would be fine with Bruce, he led the rest of them into the back room of the lab, seeking out a bit of privacy so that they could talk.

“Friday found a paternal match in the system,” began Tony as soon as the door was shut.

“Who?” asked Bucky, not bothering to take a seat like the rest of them. His entire body was rigid, like a rubber band just ready to snap and his metal was curled into a fist. He had been on edge ever since they had returned from Munich and Tony could only imagine what was going on his head.

Tony sighed as he rested his hands on the table, leaning forward so that he could look at Barnes, his lips pulled into a thin line. “Tell them what you found, Fri.”

“A chromosomal sequencing test has revealed one paternal match in both ours and Hydra’s genetic database. After extensive DNA marker testing, it is with 99.4% accuracy that Jane Doe is the biological offspring of Sergeant James Barnes, 107th Infantry Regiment United States Army. Serial number 32557038,” supplied Friday before adding; “would you like me to continue with the rest of my findings, Sir?”

Bucky looked as though his eyes were about to bug out of his skull, his jaw having gone slack as Steve sucked in a surprised breath. Natasha’s eyebrows were up to her hairline as Sam frowned in confusion.

“That can wait. Thanks, Fri,” said Tony as he looked around at the collage of surprised faces.

“Are you certain?” asked Steve, the first one to break the silence.

“Friday doesn’t make mistakes,” replied Tony before adding; “but to be sure, I checked the results myself. The test was done correctly, and the results were accurate. Sorry Barnes, but she’s yours.”

The room went silent as Tony cleared his throat.

“Congratulations?” he offered, although no one seemed to appreciate the attempt to lighten the mood. He was thinking about adding _It’s A Girl _to that statement, but he thought it might just be overkill at that point and judging from the look on everyone’s face, probably unappreciated too.

“Hold on,” said Sam after a few moments of dead silence, “wait a minute. How is that even possible? I mean no offense, Sergeant, but when was the last time you were with a woman?”

“I don’t remember for certain, but it probably happened sometime between the mindwipes and the cryofreezing,” snapped Barnes, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Okay, so we can probably assume that she wasn’t conceived the natural way,” supplied Natasha.

“Yeah, no shit,” said Barnes as he ran a hand through his longish hair before turning to Tony, his nostrils flared with anger. “Hydra did this, didn’t they?”

His metal fist curled dangerously at his side as Tony nodded

Tony swallowed, “Hydra must’ve— _made _her. I could only guess that this was their way of creating more soldiers for the cause that had your enhancements.”

“Soldiers trained to kill from birth,” said Steve under his breath.

“I guess that makes sense,” added Sam, “in a seriously fucked up way, I mean.”

“How many are there?” asked Natasha as Bucky turned to look at Tony expectantly. “How many other children like her are there out there?”

Tony shrugged, “who the fuck knows. I only know about her, and from what I can tell from her DNA profile, she’s enhanced. How far those enhancements go, I’m not sure. We won’t know until Friday gives me the full report.”

“Bucky,” said Steve as he turned his attention to his best friend, “you fought her and you told me on the jet that you thought she was enhanced.”

“She was strong,” said Bucky before adding; “stronger than the average person, but she wasn’t as strong as you or I. Her reflexes, on the other hand, were fast… Did they— did they give her anything or did she inherit it?”

“As far as I can tell, she inherited it from you,” replied Tony before adding; “but we don’t know for sure. I was hoping these files may shed some more light on the situation.”

“Have you tried interrogating her yet?” asked Natasha as Steve shook his head.

“She wouldn’t talk to us,” he said as Bucky nodded in confirmation. “Wouldn’t even let us near her.”

“I think she’s scared,” added Bucky, his voice unusually quiet. “She asked me if I was going to kill her back in Munich.”

He looked almost haunted at the recent memory and Tony honestly felt bad for the poor guy. He was still trying to recover from everything that Hydra had done to him and finding out he had a Hydra trained child soldier for a daughter? Well, that could not be easy.

“Well,” began Tony as he grabbed the flash drive and held it up, “why don’t we see what more information is lurking in these files?”

Bucky swallowed before nodding in agreement and Tony couldn’t help the sinking feeling that started in his stomach when he looked at him because somehow, he knew that whatever was waiting for them in these files would not be good. Not good at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The puzzle pieces are beginning to fall into place. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And just like that, nothing would ever be the same again.

_First, there was snow and then there was blood. His blood._

_“Sergeant Barnes,” Zola smiled down at him. “The procedure has already started…”_

** _No_ **

_He screamed until he couldn’t remember why he was screaming. Why was he screaming?_

_Who was he?_

_“Put him on ice.”_

_Darkness_

_“Asset, stand down. That is an order.”_

_There is a knife in his hand but he can’t remember why he’s holding it_

_“Drop the knife!”_

** _No_ **

_He can’t. He won’t. There’s something he has to protect..._

_What is he protecting?_

_“You’ll kill the child!”_

_Child? _

_Something inside of him shifts _ _and he knows what it is he's protecting._

_His child. _

_“Longing.”_

** _NO!_ **

_“Rusted.”_

_He drops the knife, defeated._

_He’s numb as a baby cries helplessly._

_He failed._

He jerked awake, the hand on his shoulder immediately registered as a threat. Instinctually, he grabbed them and yanked them to the floor before wrapping his hands around their neck, only one thing on his mind as he squeezed. 

_You won’t take her. Not again," _he growled as he tightened his grip. Distantly, he could feel them struggling from beneath him, but he can't stop. He won't stop. 

_Who is he trying to protect?_

“Bucky!”

He blinked. Once then twice before his hands went slack.

_“Steve?” _he asked, voice barely above that of a whisper as he looked down at his hands and then down at Steve, who is staring up at him with wide eyes. He scrambled off of him as fast as he can, mortified at the fact that he attacked his best friends once again.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath as he looked back at Steve. "Are you okay?"

Steve cleared his throat, "uh, yeah. I'm alright."

He looked down at himself before looking over at Bucky's sweat-soaked sheets that were strewn across the floor next to his unused bed. Even after all these years, Bucky was still unable to sleep in a proper bed after years of sleeping in strange places, like in foxholes and cryostasis chambers. It was nice to have one now after almost seventy years, but Bucky couldn't sleep in one to save his life. He was still adjusting to the fact that he had access to one in the first place.

“I’m sorry,” said Bucky as he an agitated hand through his hair, “I was dreaming and I thought...."

"That I was Hydra?" asked Steve, his gaze flickering between him and the soaked sheets.

Bucky looked away, unable to meet Steve's gaze as Steve crossed his arms over his chest.

"You were having a nightmare," began Steve before adding; "I think you were dreaming about her... About the girl. _Your daughter."_

Bucky shook his head, "don't call her that."

"You thought I was trying to take her from you. That's why you attacked me. You were trying to protect her," said Steve pointedly.

Bucky blinked in surprise, "what?"

"You kept muttering it while you slept," said Steve simply. "You wouldn't let them take her from you _again._"

Bucky shook his head, "that's not possible. I didn't know about her until today."

_Or had he known about her?_

He was adamant that he would've remembered if he had had a kid lying around somewhere, but deep down he knew that it was entirely possible that his memories of her could've been erased. He would like to think that he would've remembered something that big, but there was no way to know anymore. His mind was too much of minefield to trust and the DNA test was proof enough that she was his daughter.

But still, there was no denying that whether he knew or not that he felt completely and utterly violated that Hydra had used him in that manner without his consent. 

"I think you did, at least at one point," replied Steve before adding; “you just don't remember."

"Maybe," said Bucky under his breath as he lowered himself onto the bed, "I still can't believe that I have a child."

He was still trying to wrap his mind around it. Honestly, he knew he shouldn't be all that surprised. It was logical that Hydra would do something like this, as fucked up as it was. 

Truth be told, Bucky hadn’t even thought about children since before the War. He had once wanted a family to call his own, but then he was drafted and all he really thought about from then on was just surviving the damn War. It was during his time fighting in foxholes in Europe and watching his fellow soldiers getting blown up that he had decided that children were not in his future. He knew it wouldn't have been right to bring a child in such a messed up, war-torn world. Besides, he had Steve to worry about. He didn't need any more headaches. 

And then he had fallen off the train and the Winter Soldier hadn’t thought of anything but the mission for seventy years. 

"I can't believe it either," mused Steve as he lowered himself down next to Bucky, the bed creaking under their combined weight.

“I can’t be a father,” said Bucky adamantly as he shook his head. "After everything that's happened... I can't do this, Steve. I can't be what she needs. I can't help her."

It hurt him to think of her. She was so young... Too young. She was just a kid. He wanted to help her, to make things right for her as a father should, but he knew he couldn't. He was still struggling to reclaim his mind and his identity and he knew he didn't have the emotional space for her like she deserved. She needed someone who could help her, not potentially harm her like he undoubtedly would. 

There was a moment of silence as they both stared at the ground before Steve spoke.

“She looks like you,” he said, under his breath.

"Don't," whispered Bucky, weakly.

"But she does," replied Steve as Bucky shook his head.

"That doesn't change anything."

"Sure it does," replied Steve before adding; "she's a part of you, Buck. You can't just ignore that."

Bucky closed his eyes as he cursed under his breath. He wished that he could walk away and never look back, but he couldn't. Steve was right. She was a part of him and there was no denying that. 

"You really think so?" asked Bucky after a few moments of silence as he mulled over what Steve had just said. 

“I didn’t see the resemblance until after Stark told us, but yeah. She does look like you, whether you see it or not.”

Bucky frowned, “I actually thought she looked like Rebecca when I first saw her."

He swallowed, remembering how he had broken her leg during their fight. Banner had confirmed it earlier via a medical scan that he had indeed fractured her leg just below the knee, but because of her denser bone structure as well as the accelerated healing that she had inherited from him, she had already healed by the time they reached New York.

He didn’t know whether or not to relieved that she healed fast or mortified that Zola’s legacy lived on.

Bucky shook his head, “it doesn’t matter anyway. She’s not Rebecca. I don’t even know her name..."

“She told Banner her name was Seven,” said Steve offhandedly as Bucky screwed up his face in disgust.

“That’s not a name,” he said. “That’s a designation. A fucking number that was assigned to her at birth.”

“Clearly Hydra isn’t into names,” replied Steve as Bucky nodded in agreement. For seven decades, Bucky had been a nameless ghost. It hadn’t been until his fight with Steve on that bridge that anyone had ever called him by his real name.

“Did Stark find anything in those files?” asked Bucky as Steve nodded.

“Yeah,” he replied as he rose to his feet, “he finished a few minutes ago. He seemed a little flustered when I spoke to him, so I assume that he wants to share his findings with us. We’re supposed to meet in the common room in five.”

Bucky sighed, “guess we better get this show on the road then. No point in holding it off any longer.”

“What do you think is in those files?” asked Steve as Bucky shrugged.

“I have no idea,” said Bucky as he pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I have an entire decade that I can’t account for. Who knows what happened during that time.”

“You mean the nineties?” asked Steve. “I thought you said you were in cryo for most of that decade.”

Bucky had thought that was the case, but ever since stepping foot in that facility in Munich, it had triggered a long-forgotten memory. He had been there before, sometime after the fall of the USSR and before being station in DC. As for what happened between that time frame, Bucky was at a loss.

“I’m not entirely sure that I was,” he replied honestly as he furrowed his eyebrows. “That facility in Munich… I can’t explain it, but I know I’ve been there before. I just can’t remember when or for how long I was there.”

“Do you think that’s where she was born?” asked Steve as Bucky considered it for a few moments.

“Maybe,” he said with a frown, “it’s possible. But I mean she could’ve been born anywhere. She could’ve been born while I was on ice for all I know.”

But that didn’t sound right the more he thought about it. He couldn’t help the nagging feeling that there was something more going on. Something important, but he couldn’t remember what.

_Why couldn’t he remember?_

“I wonder who her mother was,” muttered Steve under his breath as Bucky was brought out of his reverie.

“I don’t think I want to know," replied Bucky offhandedly, clearly not perturbed by the thought. He knew enough to know that she was probably some Hydra lackey who was paid generously to carry and give birth to her. Not that it really mattered anyway seeing as they would probably never know her identity. 

Steve gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“Come on,” he said as he nodded toward the door. “Tony’s waiting for us. Let’s go see what he found.”

**V**

The two men entered into the Common Area to see Tony and Bruce huddled around a computer as they stared down at something, the both of them looking flustered if that was even possible. Bucky had only known the two men for a short period of time, but he knew enough to know that there was hardly anything that could fluster them.

Both of them looked up at soon as they entered and Bucky immediately knew from the grim look they gave him that something was terribly wrong.

Bruce took his glasses off and rubbed a hand over his face as Tony stood up, his face set in stone as he motioned for them to enter.

“You’re not going to like what we found,” he said, cutting to the chase as the door closed behind them.

“That bad, huh?” asked Steve as Bruce grimaced. Tony, on the other hand, ignored Steve’s comment entirely as he motioned for them to take a seat.

“Friday? Would you please run a diagnostic exam on Barnes?” asked Tony as Bucky shifted in his seat. In all of his time at the facility, he had never once consented to undergo any sort of medical exam.

“Tony—” began Steve, sensing Bucky’s obvious discomfort.

“I know you don’t like medical exams,” said Tony as he addressed Bucky, “but I need you to sit still so that Friday can run the test.”

Bucky hated having medical tests run on him and if there wasn’t an edge to Tony’s voice he would’ve vehemently refused, but he chose not to as he nodded in understanding. He closed his eyes as Friday ran the scan on him, holding as still as possible for the AI while Steve watched in confusion.

“Scan complete,” she said before adding; “would you like the results now?”

Tony closed his eyes, “I suppose there’s no easy way to say this so you might as well spit it out, Fri.”

“Sergeant Barnes appears to be in excellent health,” she started. “However, I did notice something peculiar while I was running the test. It would appear as though Sergeant Barnes has a functioning synthetic uterus.”

Bucky blinked. Once and then twice.

“What?” asked Steve as he shook his head. “Is this some sort of joke?”

“Trust me, Capsicle. I wish it was,” said Tony as he displayed an image of Bucky’s body on the big screen before zooming in on his lower abdomen. Neither Steve nor Bucky were experts on anatomy, but there was definitely something there that did not belong.

Bucky didn’t say anything as he stared at the image in mute horror.

“How is that even possible?” asked Steve, voice going from shocked to confused to angry all in one sentence.

Bucky’s eyes widened as he looked over at Steve and whispered, _“Zola.”_

Steve stared at him for a few, long moments as neither one of them dared to move or say anything as the full force of the situation at hand seemed to smack them in the face.

“The girl...” began Steve, realization dawning on his face as Bucky bolted out of his seat upon the exact same realization. “Don’t tell me—"

“Unfortunately,” replied Bruce, “It’s exactly what you’re thinking.”

_“No, no, no,” _he said, his voice breaking as the three of them watched him, helpless to do anything.

“Bucky?”

“Zola did this,” said Bucky as he stumbled back, his hand reaching out to steady himself on the wall as he found that he couldn’t breathe. “Zola did this to me.”

Steve lept out of his chair, “Bucky? Bucky? You need to calm down. You’re having a panic attack—”

He shoved Steve off of him as he fell back against the wall, choking and gasping for air as the walls seemed to be steadily closing in around him.

“C—calm down?!” asked Bucky in hysterics. “How can you expect me to be calm about any of this? I— I’m a man! I can’t get pregnant much less give birth!"

“The synthetic uterus in your abdomen and your daughter say otherwise, Sergeant,” said Friday, only escalating the situation even further as Bucky desperately palmed at his lower abdomen as if he could somehow reach in and yank the offending organ out himself.

Steve grabbed Bucky by the shoulders as the former assassin struggled in his grip.

“Tony?” yelled Steve as he refused to let go of his struggling friend. “A little help here!”

And with that, there was a stabbing sensation in Bucky’s neck as he went limp in Steve’s arms, the world fading to black around him.

**V**

Steve Rogers stared at his best friend since childhood as he slept on the medical table, the sedative that Banner had given him still coursing through his system. With Bucky’s accelerated metabolic rate, it would wear off soon, but in the meantime, Steve was content to let his friend rest after the news they had just received.

“Is he gonna be alright?” asked Steve as Tony entered into the room.

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face as he shook his head, “you’re asking me? He’s your friend, Rogers. You tell me.”

Steve didn’t say anything as he stared down at the steady rise and fall of his chest.

“Tell me everything.”

“There’s a lot of information—”

“I want to know what they did to him,” replied Steve as Tony sighed.

“They called it Project: Genesis,” began Tony, “after the fall of the Soviet Union, they moved him to Munich. They wanted more supersoldiers with his abilities, so they decided to breed him.”

“I gathered that much,” replied Steve as he crossed his arms over his chest, “but why this?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” replied Tony as he stared down at Barnes, “but I think that Hydra wanted to ensure the children born would inherit his enhancements. So, they used his sperm to fertilize a donor egg and then—”

“But what’s the point?” asked Steve, his voice breaking at the thought of his friend having to go through that. “Wouldn’t it have just been easier to take his sperm and knock someone up with it?”

Tony nodded, “that would’ve been the most logical decision, yeah. But my guess is they wanted to give the fetuses the best chance of inheriting the serum and apparently this was the only way. Or…”

“Or what?” asked Steve as Tony scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Or maybe they just wanted to see if they could do it,” replied Tony as Steve frowned. “Either way, it’s pretty sick and twisted if you ask me.”

“How many children were there?” asked Steve, his thoughts drifting to the girl. It was possible that she could be one of who knows how many children born to this sick science experiment.

“There were eight live births including the girl,” said Tony before adding; “but only seven survived. She’s the youngest one to be born in 2000. Actually, according to the files, she just turned sixteen a few days ago.”

“Do you think she knows?” asked Steve, his thoughts beginning to drift to Bucky's apparent daughter. 

“Maybe,” replied Tony. “She did have the files on her flash drive. I assume she probably read them before uploading them.”

Bucky began to stir from his sleep, eyelids fluttering as both Steve and Tony shared an uneasy glance. They watched as Bucky opened his eyes and blinked, disoriented and groggy from the sedative as Steve stepped forward.

“Hey, Buck,” said Steve as Bucky looked up at him. “How do you feel?”

For the briefest of moments, Bucky looked happy to see Steve as he began to smile. It reminded Steve of when he had found Bucky in Azzano strapped to a table and drugged. Bucky had been so happy to see him then, as if he were dreaming

But then just like that, Bucky remembered everything as the smile was wiped clean of his face.

And just like that, nothing would ever be the same again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :)


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The complexity of human emotions is raw and powerful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning
> 
> This chapter contains a non-consensual handjob and non-consensual body modifications. I have added the appropriate tags to the tag list, so please review them carefully as some it may be triggering to some audiences.

When he comes too, the first thing he is aware of is Steve’s face looking down at him. Eyes creased and lips pursed, Bucky can tell that Steve is worried for him, but he doesn’t know why. He’s just glad that it’s Steve that he’s seeing upon awakening and not Zola’s as he tried to blink away the grogginess.

“Hey, Buck. How do you feel?” asked Steve as Bucky looked around at his surroundings. He knew that he was in the medical wing of the Avengers Facility, but he couldn’t remember how he had gotten there.

He could tell that he had been drugged… His years spent with Hydra having forced him to become accustomed to all sorts of strange drugs coursing through his system. Whatever it was, he could still feel the effects lingering in his system as he smiled up at Steve.

But Steve didn’t return his smile. And just like that, it all comes back to him like a fucking punch to the gut as his smile is wiped clean off his face.

_“Steve,” _he whispered, his voice breaking. “The girl…”

“I know,” replied Steve, softly. “Banner had to sedate you. I’m sorry.”

Bucky clenched his jaw as he nodded in understanding. He couldn’t even look at Steve, too ashamed to even look his friend in the eyes. He could feel the white sheets in his hands, giving him something to hold onto as he closed his eyes.

“I remember her,” he said after a few moments of silence.

_Although he wished he didn’t…_

“You do?” Steve’s tentative voice cuts through the air like butter.

Bucky nodded; eyes still closed. “I remember everything.”

They had taken him out of Siberia after he had assassinated the Stark’s and after the fall of the Soviet Union. They had taken him to Munich, to a lab there run by two men. One of them had been American, the other— Bucky closed his eyes as the memory of a man long forgotten resurfaced. Herr Gottlieb, one of Zola’s former students… He was the one who had been in charge of the program. He was the one who had Bucky brought to Germany. He was the one who orchestrated the entire project.

_“Jesus,” _muttered Steve under his breath as Bucky looked away, hands still clutching the bedsheets until his knuckles were white. “Stark said that they drugged you—”

Bucky shook his head, jaw clenched, “not for the first one. I was awake for that one.”

**V**

** _Munich, Germany_ **

** _1992_ **

_After he kills the Stark’s, they don’t bother putting him back on ice. Even when they abandon the bunker in Siberia in a hurry after the Fall of the Soviet Union, they don’t put him back in the chamber. Instead, they load him onto a transport plane and take him somewhere; although he doesn’t know where._

_He can tell he’s still in Europe, the buildings and the landscape all familiar. They don’t tell him where they’ve taken him, but he feels that he is somewhere in Germany, although he doesn’t know why._

_They take him into an underground facility somewhere near the outskirts of the city. There are people there, scientists and doctors alike. The man that comes to greet his handlers is an old man; face lined with age and hair streaked with grey. He is short and large, just like Zola had been and when he speaks, it stirs something in the Asset’s mind— a memory that should’ve been long forgotten._

_“Welcome,” he said, smiling at Karpov as though they are old friends or colleagues, “you must be Vasily. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”_

_“Herr Gottlieb,” said Karpov, “It is an honor to finally meet you.”_

_They shake hands before the older man looks at the Asset, who is standing behind Karpov. He is still, so still that he could almost blend into the background as he stares at the floor, his vacant eyes never once looking up at the man._

_“Ah, Soldat,” he says, his eyes crinkling at the edges as he smiles at him, his tone jovial and even friendly. “It has been some time and yet, you haven’t aged a day. You are just as I remember you.”_

_The Asset doesn’t even acknowledge him as he continues to stare at the floor, head bowed submissively as he waited for his next command. He knew better than to speak out of turn, and with Karpov watching him like a hawk he doesn’t dare move out of turn._

_“Marvelous,” says the old man, “simply marvelous. Zola did well with this one. He hasn’t changed at all, even after all these years…”_

_“He’s been on ice for many years,” said Karpov, speaking as though the Asset is not even there. “We pulled him out a few months ago. He’s been helping to train the new Winter Soldiers.”_

_“He helped train his own replacements?”_

_Karpov chuckles as he shakes his head, “unfortunately, no. The Soldiers, they were— much too volatile. Like wild animals. We had to put them on ice.”_

_“Ah, I see,” says the old man, nodding in understanding, “it isn’t surprising that it did not work as you had hoped. It seems as though Erskine and Zola were far ahead of their time in those regards. That is why this Project is so important, you see. It is our only hope for successful replication.”_

_“Herr Gottlieb, I mean no disrespect,” began Karpov before adding, critically; “but how do you know this will work? I’ve read the reports for myself, and I must say I am— skeptical. How do I know that this won’t have any adverse effects on Hydra’s most valuable weapon?”_

_“I understand your reservations,” said the old man, “I too was once skeptical, but I can assure you the science is sound. There is no room for failure in Hydra, and this is no exception.”_

_“Yes, Herr. I did not mean to question Hydra or undermine your abilities. I only meant to inquire.”_

_“And inquire you should,” said the old man as he patted Karpov on the shoulder, “but soon you will see as I do. Soon, you will have your Winter Soldiers and there will be no need to continuously wipe them.”_

**V**

The memory itself is hazy, like a ripple in a pond. There are holes, things he can’t place and pieces he can’t fit together. He wants to yell and scream and punch a wall all at the same time, but he is frozen in place. He feels like a prisoner in his own body again as something wet pools around his eyes.

_Are those his tears he’s feeling? Is he truly crying? _

“What do you mean you were awake?” asked Steve, disbelief and anger in his voice. “They didn’t put you out?”

Bucky doesn’t know how to respond, so he shakes his head and lets out a shaky breath.

“No.”

**V**

_A few days later, they take him into surgery. _

_They wheel him into the operating room where he can see Herr Gottlieb and another man whom he does not recognize. They are both dressed in surgical gowns, their faces obscured by masks as they silently converse with one another in front of a monitor._

_“— it will be a success,” said Gottlieb, his heavily accented voice recognizable to the Asset. “Then, we shall commence Phase II, as we originally planned._

_“There must be a better way of going about this,” said the other man, his American accent carrying through the room as the Asset stares blankly up at the ceiling. “This— this is a travesty. We are wasting our time and resources. Surely there is another way to get what we want that does not include such unnecessary measures.”_

_“Herr Radcliffe,” said a third man, “you underestimate the severity of the situation.”_

_The memory is hazy, but Bucky knows that voice. He has heard it many times before, and every time it makes him want to vomit._

_“You may view what was done in Siberia as a success,” said Zola. “But I see it as nothing less than a failure. We have exhausted all of our options and yet we have nothing to show for it. Our attempts at replicating the serum successfully have failed.”_

_“So, this is the best we can do?” asked the third man, disgusted. “This is an absurd waste of our Asset. We would be better off searching for Captain America’s frozen body than this.”_

_“That may be, Herr Radcliffe. But this is our only hope. We now know that the best chance that we have at producing more soldiers lies within the Asset himself. He will give us what we need, and more.”_

_The memory grew hazy as Bucky tried to remember more, but all he could remember from that moment on was Herr Gottlieb’s face as he put the anesthetic mask over his face._

**V**

“But the files said—”

“You read them?” Bucky asks, eyes widening. He can distantly feel his metal fist tightening as he clenches his jaw. “No, you didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t read the file—”

“I didn’t,” snapped Steve, running an agitated hand through his hair. Bucky can see the anger radiating off of him as well as the fury in his voice. “But Tony told me they knocked you out for all of it.”

“I— I remember it,” said Bucky, voice shaking. He’s trying his damned hardest to hold himself together, but even then, he can’t stop his shoulders from shaking as he closes his eyes. “I remember the first one. They kept me awake, at least for most of it,” he says as he let out a bitter chuckle. “But then I started to remember and since they couldn’t wipe me, they kept me sedated.”

**V**

_When he awakes after the procedure is completed, the first thing that he is aware of is a dull pain in his lower abdomen, which is bandaged and wrapped. _

_The next few weeks pass by slowly as the Asset heals from whatever it is that they have done to him. With his increased healing factor, the surgical laceration on his lower abdomen heals quickly until there is nothing left but a long, thin scar. Even then, within a few weeks, there will be no indication that it was ever there to begin with._

_One day, about two weeks after the surgery, they wake the Asset from his sleep and take him to the laboratory where they order him to strip all of his clothes. He does as he is told, but he feels discomfort as he stands before them naked. He feels exposed and weak, but he makes no comment on it as a young woman enters the room and makes her way over to him._

_The Asset looks at her as he analyzes her. She is very small compared to him and he can tell that she has no combat training, making her a low threat. She is adequately attractive with long blond hair and bright blue eyes that are wide with fear. _

_He’s used to it, though. He knows that he scares people. He is, after all, a weapon. _

_“There is no reason to be scared of him,” said Herr Gottlieb as he watches the two of them, his clipboard in his hands as he pushes his glasses further up his bulbous nose. “He will not harm you unless ordered too. Isn’t that right, Soldat?”_

_“Ready to comply,” he says, devoid of any real thought or emotion. He knew his words were supposed to calm the woman, but it only seemed to make her even more nervous and on edge._

_“Go on, then. You know what you must do,” said Herr Gottlieb, encouragingly. “I will wait right here until you are done, my dear.”_

_“Yes, Herr Doctor,” she says as she swallowed heavily. He watches as she looks hesitantly down at his manhood before grabbing him gently, her hand enclosing around his cock._

_He couldn’t help but tense at the sudden contact, eyes going between her and the Doctor as she began to rub, slowly at first and then a little bit harder as he shuddered at the intense, yet pleasurable feeling. He could feel himself becoming hard in her hands as he bit his tongue, trying to hold in a moan._

_Herr Gottlieb watched quietly as the scene unfolded, only taking a few seconds to jot down a few notes on his notepad as the Asset’s breathing grew more and more labored. _

_“Well, it doesn’t appear as if all of Zola’s experiments or his time on ice have hindered him in any fashion,” said Gottlieb before adding; “in fact, it appears as though Zola’s serum made him even more fertile than he was before the serum. His sperm count is unusually high.”_

_“Lucky him,” said Herr Radcliffe as Gottlieb scoffed._

_“Lucky us, you mean.”_

_When he finally came, the Nurse collected it into a sample cup before sealing off the lid and handing it over to Herr Gottlieb, who accepted it before handing it off to a lab technician._

_“This should be enough to start with,” he said before adding; “if you need more, let me know. Heidi will be glad to obtain more if need be.”_

_The Asset, still struggling for breath, watched as the technician disappeared out of the room with his sample, a small part of him wondering what they were going to do with it. He knew that they intended to do something with it, perhaps even study it. He can’t recall them ever collecting his semen before now, but then again there is a lot he does not remember._

_Herr Gottlieb turns and addresses him once more, his hands clasping behind his back as he smiles jovially at him. “How do you feel, Soldat?”_

_“Functional.”_

_“But that is not what I asked,” he said before adding; “that felt good, did it not?”_

_The Asset swallowed as he hesitantly nodded, “yes, Herr Doctor.”_

_The Doctor beams at him as he picks up his clipboard and writes something down on it. He looks up at the Asset one last time before saying, “I thought so.”_

**V**

_They wipe him a few days later. They strap him down to the chair and turn the machine on, stepping back to watch him writhe in agony, his screams echoing throughout the entire facility. _

_And just like that, he forgets everything._

**V**

_Every day they inject him with a cocktail of drugs. At first, it doesn’t affect him all that much, but as the days go by, he starts to feel strange. He is constantly getting headaches and nausea and even tenderness in his chest._

_They take blood samples every day as well. That was until Herr Gottlieb seemed satisfied enough that the daily injections were doing their job._

_One day, a few weeks after his wipe, they lead him back into the lab. They have him change into a medical gown before having him lie back on the exam table as an ultrasound machine is brought over. The Nurse squirts the gel onto his flat, toned abdomen before moving the doppler around, her eyes trained on the grainy image on the monitor._

_The Asset watches as the Doctor pulls out a long needle, if it can even be described as that. It’s bigger than any needle the Asset has ever seen, and there is something in it. He can’t tell what it is, but it makes him feel anxious, nonetheless. _

_“Hold him,” the Doctor commands. He can feel strong arms wrapping around his arms as the Doctor injects something deep into his abdomen, his eyes trained on the monitor as he does._

_The Asset stares up at the ceiling, the slight sting in his belly barely registering. He can feel the arms holding him down more than he can feel the needle piercing his skin. _

_“That was it?” asked the handler, almost as if he expected more. He sounds disappointed. _

_“What more were you expecting?” asked the Doctor as he discarded the needle, his eyebrows raised as he removed his gloves and mask. “Heavenly bells to ring? Angelic singing?”_

_The handler looks slightly embarrassed, but he hides it well beneath a stern look. “When will we know whether it took or not?”_

_“Soon. Very soon.”_

**V**

_It doesn’t take. So, they keep trying and trying. Injection after injection. Ultrasound after ultrasound. Test after test after test. _

_And then, finally, a few weeks later the test comes back positive and the ultrasound confirms it. _

_There is a heartbeat. _

**V**

_The Asset becomes aware a few months later that something is not right. His handlers and the medical staff begin watching him more closely than before. He’s not entirely sure what is happening, but he does as he’s told. He submits to every test and exam that they put him through and complies with every command thrown at him._

_Still, as the weeks go by, he begins to feel strange. He’s nauseous all the time and he feels moodier than usual. His body begins to ache, and his belly begins to push out more and more until his taut muscles disappear beneath a domed expanse._

_But as his belly grows, so does his awareness._

**V**

“All weapons malfunction at some point or another,” said Bucky as he wrung his hands. He felt hollow as he stared at the far wall, unable to look Steve in the eye yet. “That’s what Zola said when I first broke my programming.”

“How many times did you manage to break it?” asked Steve, his voice raspy.

“Before the bridge, three times,” he swallowed. “The first time was in 1962. It was early on in my programming and I saw your picture. I don’t know why Zola had it, but he did and as soon as I saw it I just—”

“You remembered.”

“It was like everything just came back. My family, the War, the team, Hydra, _you. _I attacked Zola, but then he said the words and I was his slave again,” said Bucky before letting out a bitter chuckle; “I did manage to get a punch in though.”

It was a small consolation that Bucky had managed to break the motherfucker's nose before they strapped him back into the chair. They had put his mind through the blender for several hours after that until his throat was raw and his gums were red and swollen from biting down on the mouthguard so hard.

“The second time,” he paused, shoulders sagging dejectedly as he dared a glance at his friend, “was in 1992.”

“And the third time was in 2000,” said Steve, as Bucky glanced up at him, eyebrows furrowed.

“How do you know about that?”

“Tony told me,” replied Steve before adding; “there was a slip up with the drugs and you woke up.”

Bucky nodded as his gaze fell back to the floor, “I hadn’t been wiped in months and I— I guess I remembered enough. One of the staff left a scalpel on the table.”

“You tried to kill yourself.”

“No,” Bucky said as he shook his head, his eyes meeting Steve’s once again as the corners of his mouth twisted into a grimace. “I tried to kill her.”

“You— what?”

Steve could only watch in mute horror as Bucky began to tremble, his body beginning to crumble away as he choked back a sob. “I tried to kill her, Steve. I— I tried to kill my own daughter.”

“Bucky—”

“_Don’t,” _said Bucky, weakly. “I know what you’re about to say, so don’t even try it.”

“You did what you thought you had too,” he said as he ignored his friend's meek warning. “You shouldn’t have even been in that position in the first place. Nobody can fault you for doing what you did in those few moments.”

Bucky clenched his jaw as he shook his head, “you don’t get it, do you?”

“Well then explain it to me,” begged Steve. “Please, tell me so that I can understand—”

“It wasn’t about me,” began Bucky, his voice full of pain and regret. “I tried to kill her because I knew what Hydra would do to her and I knew the horrible things she would be subjected too. I didn’t want her to end up like me,” said Bucky, his voice beginning to crack as he covered his face with his hands. “I couldn’t let them have her.”

Steve swallowed, “you wanted to save her.”

Bucky chuckled bitterly as he twisted his lips, the corners pulled down into a cynical frown as he regarded Steve. “I wanted to save her by killing her.”

“By preventing her from living a life full of pain,” said Steve before adding; “maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but it was all that you could do for her in that situation.”

“I wanted her dead,” he said, distantly. “I tried to kill her. And I wish that was the reason I could never forgive myself, but I would be lying.”

“Bucky…”

“You still don’t get it,” he rasped. “I don’t hate myself for wanting to kill her. I regret it, yes. But I don’t hate myself for it. You want to know why?”

Steve remained silent. He didn’t know what he could possibly say in that instance or what Bucky wanted from him, but he had a feeling that the best thing that he could do was listen.

“I hate myself because I wish I had finished it,” said Bucky, trembling. “I wish that I had killed her then because so long as she exists, I’ll never be free of what Hydra did to me.”

And with that, he put his head in his hands and closed his eyes, the full force of his emotions bearing down on him.

There was nothing more to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven reveals a part of her past to Tony and Natasha

She awoke from a restless sleep, the sheets sprawled out on the makeshift cot that had been made for her. Instinctually, she brushed her hand under her pillow for her glock, her eyes snapping open as soon as she realized that it was gone.

Heart pounding, she ripped the pillow off of the bed and grasped at the sheets in a blind panic, searching desperately for her—

She paused, her eyes traveling over the unfamiliar surroundings as she realized that she wasn’t in her dingy little apartment in Poland anymore. She wasn’t even in Europe anymore. She was in Upstate New York— at least that’s what the Captain had told her while the one with the metal arm had confiscated all of her weapons, including her most prized possession.

Then they had loaded her onto their jet and had taken her to the Avengers Facility. They had landed not long before sunrise before she was ushered into a medical exam room to have her leg treated by a Doctor. From there they had taken her to this prison cell and told her to rest. How long ago had that been?

Rising from her bed, she carefully placed weight on her leg, mindful of the cast that she had been provided. She was glad to find that she was able to place her full weight with minimal pain, which was good news. She wanted to have full use of her leg in case she needed to make a break for it, not entirely sure what the future held for her at this point. Surely by now, they should’ve already decrypted the files on the drive. With that information, she wasn’t sure how Shield would react. Would they imprison her? Put her on ice?

She shivered at the thought, uncertainty flooding her. She knew that Shield was no longer Hydra, the events in 2014 all too fresh in her mind. It was a few days after the fall of the Triskelion in DC that she had been given her final mission. That had been two, almost three years ago now.

She had left Hydra a few months later after her handlers had abandoned her in Prague, desperate to escape arrest and imprisonment. She had no idea what had become of them, but after staying put for months like she had been ordered too, Seven realized that they weren’t coming back. Hydra was a splintered and broken mess and she had been left behind in the chaos. She had slipped through the cracks, left to wander around the whole of Europe with no purpose and no identity.

She was no one. Just another nameless face in a crowd full of people to busy living their lives to notice one girl. She had been invisible.

That was until she had decided to find out who she was and where she came from. She knew that there was a chance that either Hydra or Shield could find her, but it was a chance she was willing to risk. Her training had served her well, but by the time she had finished her work in Budapest, she knew she was being followed by either Shield or Hydra. It wasn’t until Munich that she knew for sure which one it was.

And now here she was— _a prisoner_. Shield had taken her into custody. She tried to reassure herself that it was better than being taken by Hydra, but it did not ease her fears. In fact, it only seemed to make things worse.

Much, much worse.

Footsteps could be heard making their way down the hallway before coming to a stop in front of her door. She held her breath as the access code was punched in and the door opened to reveal Stark followed closely by a lithe red-haired woman.

Seven stared at the newcomer, her jaw clenching tightly.

_“I know you."_

The woman’s head snapped over in her direction, her eyes taking in the young girl before her with thinly veiled curiosity.

_“You speak Russian?" _asked the redhead as she cocked her head

The girl nodded, her gaze falling to the ground as she lowered herself back onto the bed before replying in English, “you are the Black Widow. There are not many in Hydra’s circle who do not know who you are.”

The woman tilted her head, “you’re Hydra?”

“Not anymore.”

“How old are you?” asked Natasha, quietly. She crossed her arms over her chest as Seven bit the inside of her cheek, uncertain how much she should share with these strangers.

“According to my file, I am sixteen,” she said, remembering the date on the file. For the first time in her entire life, she knew how old she was. “I was born on December 4, 2000.”

“That was two days ago,” said Stark. “Today is the sixth.”

Seven nodded, “I don’t keep track of the date.”

There wasn’t any need to as far as she was concerned. The passing of time had never been marked during her time with Hydra and neither she nor the other trainees had known what day of the week it was let alone the month.

“But you keep track of lost Hydra files,” said Stark without missing a beat. “I went through your flash drive and decrypted everything. You have quite the collection of files on there.”

She visibly tensed, the muscles in her shoulders and neck going stiff as she swallowed. Her throat felt dry as she refused to meet either one’s gaze. She could, however, feel their eyes on her as they tried to read the myriad of emotions on her face.

She tried to put on her best poker face, but her eyes betrayed her.

"You read them,” she said, her voice much meeker than she had anticipated.

Fuck. Since when had she gone soft? Hydra would’ve broken her bones for displaying her emotions so openly like this.

But then again, this wasn’t Hydra.

“Yep,” said Stark. “We also ran a DNA test as well.”

This should’ve come as no surprise to her. They would’ve uncovered her secrets eventually.

“Oh.”

“Oh?” Stark asked, mocking her tone, “Is that all you have to say? _Oh_?”

She wasn’t sure what more he wanted from her, but she didn’t see how mocking her was going to get her to answer whatever questions he had as she blinked up at him.

“Tony—”

“Did you know?” he asked. She could tell he wasn’t angry, but there was an edge to his voice. A sharp, glinting edge that told her to tread carefully. “Is that why you stole the files? You didn’t want us to find out about you?”

“I didn’t want to be found,” she said before adding; “I had to hide, for my own safety.”

She was a nobody. She was a ghost— a nameless face in a crowd. She wasn’t meant to be found. And she preferred it that way.

All her life she had been subjected to torture. She had been lied too, abused, and left for dead. And it was only after she had been forced out into the world on her own that she saw the world for what it was— she saw Hydra for what it really was. A den of hungry snakes.

Captain America had destroyed all that Hydra had worked for in a blaze of glory while the world watched. And she had risen from the ashes.

“From Hydra?” asked Natasha as Seven shook her head. She gave no further answers.

She watched as Stark pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling deeply. “Look, kid. You gotta be honest with us if you want our help. Who are you running from?”

“Everyone,” she replied, hoarsely. “I didn’t want to be found. By you or Hydra— or anyone for that matter.”

“Hydra is broken,” said Natasha before adding; “ever since the Triskelion they’ve been scattered.”

“Yes, but a wounded animal yet bears teeth,” replied Seven before reciting the age-old mantra that she had been told as a child; “cut off one head, and another shall take its place. Hydra will regroup and regrow. It’s what they do. And when that happens, they’ll come for me. Especially after what I did in Siberia.”

When she had put a bullet in every single one of their precious Winter Soldier’s brains. Hydra would track her down and make her pay with her life for destroying years of hard work. Howard and Maria Stark had been killed for those Winter Soldiers— and she had killed them all in less than one minute. All of Hydra’s work and sacrifice amounting to nothing.

And she knew that if it came down to it; she would do it again in a heartbeat.

“You mean when you killed the Winter Soldiers.”

She nodded but offered no further explanation.

“Why?” asked Stark, his gaze penetrating. “If you knew they’d come after you—"

“It had to be done,” she countered, unwavering in her conviction. “I couldn’t let Hydra have them. I did the world a service when I put a bullet in them. You should be thanking me.”

“You’re sixteen years old,” replied Stark, aghast. “We shouldn’t have to thank you for that.”

She cocked her head, keeping her eyes trained on him. “Does my age bother you, Mr. Stark?”

“Yeah,” he responded, truthfully, “actually it does. You’re a kid. You should be worried about finals and prom— not running from secret Nazi organizations,” he rubbed a tired hand over his face before pinching his nose. “God this is fucked up.”

“I don’t believe God had anything to do with this,” said Seven.

“Clearly not,” muttered Stark under his breath, still pinching his nose. Her words had bothered him, and it showed.

“I am not a child,” said Seven, keeping her voice even. “There are no children in Hydra. Only soldiers.”

At that, the redhead gave her a look that did not sit well with the young girl. It looked like pity, but not the cruel pity that she had grown accustomed to over the years. No, this was different. It made her stomach churn.

“But you’re not Hydra anymore,” said Natasha before adding; “and out here in the real world, children aren’t raised to be soldiers.”

She was right. From what Seven had observed of the world around her, children were protected by parents who loved and cherished them. Children were raised with hopes and dreams. They were told from a young age to reach for the stars.

She had no idea what that was like, but a small part of her had always yearned for it nonetheless.

“If you knew Hydra would come for you,” began Natasha, her tone soft yet imploring, “then why didn’t you come to us after Siberia? We could’ve protected you— helped you.”

Seven let out a hard, bitter laugh at that. “No one has ever been interested in helping me, not unless I had something to offer. Shield is no better than Hydra. You’re all the same to me; two sides of the same useless coin. I knew I was better off on my own.”

“We helped your father,” said Natasha as she placed her hands on her hips. “We got him away from Hydra, helped him regain his memories. We even removed the programming from his head.”

“How kind of you,” spat Seven. “But I’m not him. My mind is whole and my memories are my own. I don’t need your help nor do I want it.”

“So what do you propose we do then?” asked Stark as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants before leaning against the wall, his demeanor carefree and nonchalant— almost if he were speaking to an old-time friend rather than a dangerous ex-Hydra operative. “Should we just let you go and leave you at the mercy of Hydra?”

Seven’s nostrils flared, but she said nothing as he continued.

“Or maybe we could just kill you,” he offered as Natasha glared daggers at him. “Make it quick and easy. Problem solved.”

“You’re an ass,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Only when I want to be,” he replied. “But at my core, I’ve always been a philanthropist.”

“Isn’t that usually preceded by genius, billionaire, playboy?” asked Seven, repeating the very words that Stark had used multiple times to describe himself on television as Natasha gave Seven a bemused smile.

“Okay, smart-aleck,” Stark pushed himself off the wall before coming to a halt in front of the girl, his brown eyes bearing into her ice blue ones. “Say we let you go. What’s your plan?”

Seven swallowed, “my plan?”

“For not getting caught by Hydra,” he clarified. “Because you don’t want that, right? So what is it?”

“I— I don’t know—”

“You don’t?” asked Stark, feigning surprise. “And here I thought you had some grand plan for ensuring that Hydra didn’t come to collect one of its lost Assets—”

“I am no one’s Asset,” she replied, her words colder than ice as she glared up at the two adults.

“Of course you’re not,” said Natasha, “but Hydra isn’t going to just let you go without a fight. And you know that Shield isn’t going to let a highly trained operative with questionable motives go without at least making sure that you don’t go rogue.”

Seven let out a bitter laugh at that, “because the daughter of the Winter Soldier would have questionable loyalties, right?”

“Do you?” asked Stark as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“I already told you,” she couldn’t help but growl, anger gripping at her as she fisted at the white sheets, her knuckles turning white. “I never set out to hurt anyone. I just wanted answers.”

And that was not a lie. Every word that Seven spoke was the truth; but did they believe her?

“You may not have set out to hurt anyone,” said Stark, brown eyes softening. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re here now.”

Seven remained silent as Natasha spoke next, “we want to help you, but we can’t do that if you leave. Eventually, Hydra will come for you and when they do, I doubt you’ll be able to fend them off. You may have gotten away once, but don’t count on your luck to save you twice.”

Seven opened her mouth to respond, but the words failed her. The thought of Hydra finding her was terrifying, but was it terrifying enough to make her stay? To place her trust in Shield, the very same organization that she had been taught to hate from birth… Could she do it?

_Don’t count on your luck to save you twice._

Her luck had saved her, gotten her away. It had carried her throughout the whole of Europe, but it hadn’t taken away her fear. The fear that a stranger in a crowd could be an agent trailing her, watching and waiting for the opportunity to strike. For almost three years now, Seven had grown accustomed to constantly having to look over her shoulder; wondering if today would be the day that they would find her. It was a horrible way to live; wondering if today would be the last day she would ever be free.

But was she free? Was freedom being suspicious of every person she met? Was it having to sleep with a glock under her pillow just to feel safe? Was that freedom?

_No, _she thought grimly. _It wasn’t._

“Fine,” she inhaled deeply. “I’ll stay. On one condition.”

“You’re not exactly in a position to be bargaining—” began Stark before the Widow cut him off, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder as she stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Name it,” she dared.

“I want to speak to him,” she said, mouth twisting. The next words that came out of her mouth surprised even her as she spoke them with such clarity. “I want to speak to my father.”


End file.
